Expansion module and server

Abstract

This invention relates to an expansion module and a server. An expansion module includes a mounting bracket, at least one adapter card, at least one expansion component, a front cover, a side cover, and at least one fastener. The mounting bracket has at least one mounting space. The at least one adapter card is mounted on the mounting bracket and located within the at least one mounting space. The at least one expansion component includes two expansion cards. The two expansion cards are arranged in a double-layer configuration and located within the at least one mounting space. Each expansion card includes a card body and a retainer. The retainer is disposed on the card body and has a first locking portion. The front cover is mounted on the mounting bracket and has a second locking portion, and the first locking portion of the retainer corresponds to the second locking portion. At least one fastener passes through the side cover and the first locking portion and locks to the second locking portion, such that the side cover covers the side of the front cover.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of expansion module technology, and in particular to expansion modules and servers. Background Technology

[0002] In computer systems, expansion cards serve various purposes, such as image processing, network interfaces, peripheral device interfaces, and data storage. Users can install expansion cards to expand the functionality of their computers according to their needs.

[0003] When users install multiple expansion cards in a 1U server, they typically need to adjust the placement of these cards. However, adjusting the placement of the expansion cards may create gaps between the server chassis and the cover, affecting appearance and security specification testing. Therefore, reducing the gap between the server chassis and the cover is one of the problems that developers need to solve. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on this, the present invention provides an expansion module and a server to reduce the gap between the server chassis and the cover.

[0005] An expansion module disclosed in one embodiment of the present invention includes a mounting bracket, at least one adapter card, at least one expansion component, a front cover, a side cover, and at least one fastener. The mounting bracket has at least one mounting space. The at least one adapter card is mounted on the mounting bracket and located in the at least one mounting space. The at least one expansion component includes two expansion cards. The two expansion cards are arranged in a double layer and located in the at least one mounting space. Each expansion card includes a card body and a baffle. The baffle is disposed on the card body and has a first locking portion. The front cover is mounted on the mounting bracket and has a second locking portion, and the first locking portion of the baffle corresponds to the second locking portion. At least one fastener passes through the side cover and the first locking portion and locks to the second locking portion, so that the side cover covers the side of the front cover.

[0006] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a server comprising a chassis and an expansion module. The chassis has a height of 1U. The expansion module has a height of less than or equal to 1U and includes a mounting bracket, at least one adapter card, at least one expansion component, a front cover, a side cover, and at least one fastener. The mounting bracket has at least one mounting space. The at least one adapter card is mounted on the mounting bracket and located in the at least one mounting space. The at least one expansion component includes two expansion cards. The two expansion cards are arranged in a double layer and located in the at least one mounting space. Each expansion card includes a card body and a retainer. The retainer is disposed on the card body and has a first locking portion. The front cover is mounted on the mounting bracket and has a second locking portion, and the first locking portion of the retainer corresponds to the second locking portion. At least one fastener passes through the side cover and the first locking portion and locks to the second locking portion, such that the side cover covers the side of the front cover.

[0007] According to the expansion module and server in the above embodiments, since the expansion module adds a side cover outside the server's installation space to cover the gap between the server's cover and front cover with dual expansion cards, it can simultaneously meet the requirements of appearance and safety specification testing.

[0008] The above description of the content of this invention and the following description of the embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the principles of this invention, and to provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of this invention. Attached Figure Description

[0009] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of the invention. The illustrative embodiments of the invention and their descriptions are used to explain the invention and do not constitute an improper limitation of the invention.

[0010] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0011] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The diagram shown is an exploded view of the server.

[0013] Figure 3 for Figure 1 An exploded view of the expansion modules in the diagram.

[0014] Figure 4 for Figure 2 An exploded view of the side cover and fasteners.

[0015] Figure 5 for Figure 1 A top-view diagram of the expansion module.

[0016] 10: Server; 20: Chassis; 30: Expansion module; 31: Mounting bracket; 311: Installation space; 32: Adapter card; 321: Adapter card slot; 33: Expansion component; 331: Expansion card; 3311: Card body; 3312: Baffle; 33121: First locking part; 34: Front cover; 341: Second locking part; 35: Side cover; 36: Fastener; 40: Cover; G: Gap. Detailed Implementation

[0017] Please see Figure 1 . Figure 1 This is a perspective view of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention. The server 10 of this embodiment includes a chassis 20, an expansion module 30, and a cover 40. The height of the chassis 20 is, for example, 1U. The height of the expansion module 30 is, for example, less than or equal to 1U. 1U refers to a rack unit used to calibrate server or other data center equipment, with a height of 4.445 cm.

[0018] Please see Figures 2 to 4 . Figure 2 for Figure 1 The diagram shown is an exploded view of the server. Figure 3 for Figure 1 An exploded view of the expansion modules in the diagram. Figure 4 for Figure 2 An exploded view of the side cover and fasteners.

[0019] In one embodiment, the expansion module 30 includes a mounting bracket 31, at least one adapter card 32, at least one expansion component 33, a front cover 34, at least one side cover 35, and at least one fastener 36. The mounting bracket 31 has at least one mounting space 311. The at least one adapter card 32 is mounted on the mounting bracket 31 and located in the at least one mounting space 311. Each expansion component 33 includes two expansion cards 331. The two expansion cards 331 are arranged in a double layer and located in one of the mounting spaces 311.

[0020] In this embodiment, the expansion module 30 includes a mounting bracket 31, four adapter cards 32, two expansion components 33, a front cover 34, two side covers 35, and four fasteners 36. The mounting bracket 31 has two mounting spaces 311. The four adapter cards 32 are mounted on the mounting bracket 31 and are located in the two mounting spaces 311 respectively. Each adapter card 32 has an adapter card slot 321. The two expansion components 33 are located in the two mounting spaces 311 respectively. Each expansion component 33 includes two expansion cards 331. Specifically, the two expansion cards 331 are arranged in a double layer and located in one of the mounting spaces 311, and the four expansion cards 331 are respectively inserted into the four adapter cards 32.

[0021] In one embodiment, expansion card 331 is a PCIe card.

[0022] In one embodiment, each expansion card 331 includes a card body 3311 and a baffle 3312. Specifically, the card body 3311 is, for example, a circuit board, and the baffle 3312 is, for example, a metal sheet.

[0023] In one embodiment, the card body 3311 is inserted into at least one adapter card 32. A baffle 3312 is disposed on the card body 3311 and has a first locking part 33121. Specifically, the card body 3311 is inserted into the adapter card slot 321 of the adapter card 32.

[0024] In one embodiment, the front cover 34 is mounted on the mounting bracket 31 and has at least one second locking portion 341. The first locking portion 33121 of the baffle 3312 corresponds to the second locking portion 341. Specifically, the front cover 34 has two second locking portions 341 on opposite sides. In this embodiment, the first locking portion 33121 and the second locking portion 341 are through holes.

[0025] In one embodiment, at least one fastener 36 passes through at least one side cover 35 and the first locking portion 33121 and is locked to at least one second locking portion 341, so that at least one side cover 35 covers the side of the front cover 34.

[0026] Since the second locking portions 341 and the side covers 35 located on opposite sides of the front cover 34 have the same structure and connection relationship, only the second locking portion 341 and the side cover 35 on one side of the front cover 34 will be described. Two fasteners 36 pass through the side cover 35 and the first locking portion 33121 and are locked to the second locking portion 341, so that the side cover 35 covers the side of the front cover 34 and is fixed to the baffle 3312. For example, the side cover 35 is made of plastic. For example, the fasteners 36 are stepped screws.

[0027] Please refer to the following: Figure 5 . Figure 5 for Figure 1 A top view of the expansion module. A cover 40 is mounted on the housing 20, and a gap G is maintained between the cover 40 and the front cover 34. A side cover 35 conceals the gap G.

[0028] In this embodiment, since two expansion cards 331 arranged in a double layer are installed in an installation space 311 of the 1U server, the installation position needs to be adjusted so that the motherboard (not shown) and the expansion cards 331 are side by side to facilitate the installation of the expansion cards 331. However, the above installation method will create a gap G between the front cover 34 and the cover 40, which will affect the appearance and safety specification testing. Therefore, two side covers 35 are added on opposite sides of the front cover 34 to cover the gap G, thereby taking into account both the integrity of the appearance and the safety specification testing.

[0029] In one embodiment, there are two installation spaces 311, two adapter cards 32, and two expansion components 33, with the two adapter cards 32 and the two expansion components 33 located in the two installation spaces 311 respectively.

[0030] In this embodiment, the mounting bracket 31 has two mounting spaces 311, each of which can accommodate two expansion cards 331, and the four expansion cards 331 are respectively inserted into four adapter cards 32, but this is not a limitation. In other embodiments, the mounting bracket may have only one mounting space, which can accommodate two expansion cards, and the two expansion cards are respectively inserted into two adapter cards.

[0031] In this embodiment, there are two adapter cards 32 in each installation space 311, and each adapter card 32 has an adapter card slot 321, but this is not a limitation. In other embodiments, there may be only one adapter card in each installation space, and each adapter card may have two adapter card slots.

[0032] In this embodiment, since there are two installation spaces 311 accommodating the expansion card 331, and the two installation spaces 311 are side by side, there are two side covers 35. The two side covers 35 respectively cover the opposite sides of the front cover 34 and are fixed to the baffle 3312 of the expansion card 331, but this is not a limitation. In other embodiments, since there may be only one installation space accommodating the expansion card, there may also be only one side cover, and the side cover covers the side of the front cover and is fixed to the baffle of the expansion card.

[0033] According to the expansion module and server in the above embodiments, since the expansion module adds a side cover outside the server's installation space to cover the gap between the server's cover and front cover with dual expansion cards, it can simultaneously meet the requirements of appearance and safety specification testing.

[0034] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of patent protection of the present invention shall be determined by the claims defined in the appended specification.

Claims

1. An expansion module, characterized by The expansion module includes: A mounting bracket having at least one mounting space; At least one adapter card is mounted on the mounting bracket and located in the at least one mounting space; At least one expansion component includes two expansion cards, the two expansion cards are arranged in a double layer and located in the at least one installation space, each expansion card includes a card body and a baffle, the card body is inserted into the at least one adapter card, the baffle is disposed on the card body and has a first locking part; A front cover, mounted on the mounting bracket, and having at least one second locking portion, wherein the first locking portion of the baffle corresponds to the at least one second locking portion; and At least one side cover and at least one fastener, the at least one fastener passing through the at least one side cover and the first locking portion and locking to the at least one second locking portion, such that the at least one side cover covers the side of the front cover.

2. The expansion module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of the installation space, the adapter card, and the expansion component are all two, with the two adapter cards and the two expansion components located in the two installation spaces respectively.

3. The expansion module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The expansion card mentioned above is a PCIe card.

4. A server, characterized in that, include: A housing, the height of which is 1U; and An expansion module, wherein the height of the expansion module is less than or equal to 1U, the expansion module comprising: A mounting bracket having at least one mounting space; At least one adapter card is mounted on the mounting bracket and located in the at least one mounting space; At least one expansion component includes two expansion cards, the two expansion cards are arranged in a double layer and located in the at least one installation space, each expansion card includes a card body and a baffle, the baffle is disposed on the card body and has a first locking part; A front cover, mounted on the mounting bracket, and having at least one second locking portion, wherein the first locking portion of the baffle corresponds to the at least one second locking portion; and At least one side cover and at least one fastener, the at least one fastener passing through the at least one side cover and the first locking portion and locking to the at least one second locking portion, such that the at least one side cover covers the side of the front cover.

5. The server according to claim 4, characterized in that, The number of the installation space, the adapter card, and the expansion component are all two, with the two adapter cards and the two expansion components located in the two installation spaces respectively.

6. The server according to claim 4, characterized in that, The expansion card mentioned above is a PCIe card.

7. The server according to claim 4, characterized in that, It also includes a cover, which is mounted on the housing and has a gap between the cover and the front cover, with the at least one side cover covering the gap.

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